Premier League - Paper Round: City star Nasri's wages slashed

Samir Nasri will have to accept a pay cut if he wants to sign a new four-year deal with Manchester City.

Nasri ordered to take a massive pay cut Manchester City are known as one of the world's biggest spending clubs, but it seems even they have their limits. Nasri is reportedly picking up £160,000 per week, according to the Daily Star, but is apparently ready to drop £40k per week to remain at the Etihad. It isn't all bad for the former Arsenal midfielder Nasri and his City companions with the club set to dole out massive bonuses for successes.

Paper Round's view UEFA’s Financial Fair Play system does not cover bonuses so this seems like an ideal way for the Premier League champions to get around being hammered further by UEFA for excessive spending. City are heading towards a lower salary scale, says the Star, which does not really mean much. What City are taking away with one hand, they are giving out with the other in terms of the bonuses. Nasri is not going to go hungry any time soon. We suspect he isn't going to be overly concerned when he finds out what the bonuses are on offer from a club who tend to win most weeks. Unlike at Manchester United, where win bonuses are a bit harder to come by.

Arsenal close in on triple deal worth £60 million The Daily Telegraph bring us news that Arsene Wenger is close to agreeing deals for Lars Bender, Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy. The newspaper said that Wenger's priorites had always been a striker, central midfield and right-back. And they have them all in those three. Arsenal tried to land Bender last summer, but saw a £19m bid thrown out by Bayer Leverkusen. Bender has been recovering from a thigh injury that deprived him of a spot in Germany's World Cup squad.

Paper Round's view Having decided against bringing former captain Cesc Fabregas back to the club, Arsenal had to do something exceptional. And this sounds very appealing if they can land this trio. The signing of Sanchez from Barcelona would be the icing on the proverbial cake with Liverpool keen on the Barcelona attacker. But the lure of London seems to have bolstered Arsenal's prospects on that one. Will these three be enough on their own to improve Arsenal? Having watched Per Mertesacker at the World Cup, something suggests not.

Swansea clinch £4 million signing of Jefferson MonteroThe Mirror claims that the Swans have beaten off competition from West Ham and Sunderland to complete a deal for the Ecuador World Cup winger. Mexican side Monarcas are apparently content with the price with the player apparently keen to ready to finalise his move to Swansea because he likes their style of play.

Paper Round's view Going to be plenty of this sort of fodder over the days, weeks and months ahead. Anybody that catches the eye at the World Cup is likely to be on somebody's list, somewhere. Especially with Premier League football clubs having more money than sense. £4 million is cheap and cheerful when you think about it. Montero sounds like he has a good agent.

Liverpool close to completing deal for Markovic The Anfield club have apparently triggered a realise £20 million for the Benfica winger. With Luis Suarez set to join Barcelona for £70 million, Brendan Rodgers is busy rebuilding his squad. Markovic has played 12 times for Serbia, and scored seven times in 49 games for his club side last season.

Paper Round's view This would be the fourth signing of the summer for Liverpool to accompany the captures of Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Emre Can. At 20, Markovic fits the bill for the sort of player Rodgers is keen to sign. The Suarez sale will hit a lot of Liverpool supporters hard. Especially when you take his goals out of the equation. But bringing in a few new faces with a decent pedigree will certainly help to cushion the blow. Will Liverpool stop at four new faces? We think there is room for more arrivals.